The Long, Cold Dark, Chapter VII: Glory and Gore
Now we're in the ring And we're coming for blood (_Lorde_) * * * "Waa-_AAA_-augh," I panted, staring at the ceiling. "Exactly," Andy grinned, propping his cheek up on his hand as he lay on his side next to me. "That was... great," I breathed...
The Long, Cold Dark, Chapter VI: Miss It So Much
Days turn to nights, turn to weeks Turn to paper, into rocks, into plastic My material heart, how it keeps us apart _(Röyksopp + Lykke Li)_ * * * I groggily exited elevator and made my unsteady way down the hallway, fumbling in my pockets for the...
The Long, Cold Dark, Chapter V: Monument
This will be my monument This will be a beacon when I'm gone _(Röyksopp + Robyn)_ * * * For seemingly the next eternity, all I knew was pain. I had been taken back to the facility and shut me away in my old tiny, black room, far away from the...
The Long, Cold Dark, Chapter IV: Blacking Out the Friction
I don't mind the weather I've got scarves and caps and sweaters The hardest part is yet to come When you will cross the country alone _(Death Cab for Cutie)_ * * * I must have dozed off, because when I looked up, the sun slanting though the...
The Long, Cold Dark, Chapter III: Fame
Fame, makes a man take things over Fame, lets him loose, hard to swallow Fame, puts you where things are hollow _(David Bowie)_ * * * Gabe managed to tear his gaze away from the devastated cityscape to glance down the bus clutched in his hand. On...
The Long, Cold Dark, Chapter II: Everybody Wants to Rule the World
We will find you Acting on your best behaviour Turn your back on Mother Nature (Tears for Fears) * * * I awoke groggily in the lap of luxury. Startled into a fuller state of awareness by the unfamiliar surroundings, I looked around, wide-eyed....
The Long, Cold Dark, Chapter I: Cliquot
But what melody will lead my lover from his bed? What melody will see him in my arms again? _(Beirut)_ * * * Vodka really _is_ the water of life. Isn't that what they say that word means? _?????._Countless distilleries had perfected their recipes...
Maelstrom, Chapter II: The Rip Tide
And this is the house where I I feel alone Feel alone now (_Beirut_) * * * Backpack slung over my shoulder, I walked down the busy hallway. People rushed in either direction past me, trying to get to their classrooms before the bell announced the...
Maelstrom, Chapter I: Welcome Home
Ships are launching from my chest Some have names but most do not If you find one, please, let me know what piece I've lost (_Radical Face_) * * * "What in the flying fuck is going on here?" I asked for at least the umpteenth time that hour. It...
Ties That Bind, Chapter VII: The Penalty
_Like an ancient day and I'm on trial_ _Let them seize the way, this once was an island_ _And I could not stay, for I believed them_ _Left the lights always in season_ _(Beirut)_ * * * When I hurried into the bustling hospital waiting room, I...
Ties That Bind, Chapter IX: Styrofoam Plates
_Just 'cause he's gone_ _It doesn't change the fact:_ _He was a bastard in life_ _Thus a bastard in death_ _(Death Cab for Cutie)_ * * * I didn't think the meeting was going terribly well. Nothing I told the assembled group in the small office...
Ties That Bind, Chapter VIII: Lost!
_You might be a big fish_ _In a little pond_ _Doesn't mean you've won_ _'Cause along may come_ _A bigger one_ _(Coldplay)_ * * * Pressed up against the foot of the bedpost, I scanned the vast expanse of the darkened room. Where could she have...